Mateo Nacu takes home three medals from the 2023 Jr. Panamerican Karate Championships

August 30, 2023

Mateo Nacu recently returned from Santiago, Chile with stand-out results from an international karate competition.

After qualifying at the 2023 USA National Karate Championships by earning gold in three different events in July, Enso Karate athlete Mateo Nacu made history last week by taking home three medals at the Jr. Pan American Karate Championships in Santiago, Chile. No other member of the Junior US Karate National Team has done that.

In individual kata (forms), Mateo topped his group in two rounds to make it to the final  where he fell short to his Ecuadorian opponent and won the silver medal.

In individual kumite (sparring), Mateo fought his way through four matches to get to the fifth and final match against another Ecuadorian athlete. These two athletes faced each other in the final in 2022, when Mateo finished with a silver medal. This time, with a score of 6-4, Mateo took the gold. 

In Team Kata (a synchronized form performed with three athletes), Mateo and his teammates David Ho and Lance Santos, both from the Jinen Kai dojo in California, returned to the tournament to defend their 1st place finish earned last year. They scored the highest in their pool in round one, which put them in a final match with the team from Peru. After a dynamic and exciting performance of  bunkai (showing the application of techniques), the team secured the gold for the second year in a row (a record first for the US!), and added another gold to the overall medal count for the US. 

Mateo is a student at the Enso Karate dojo, owned by his parents Jay and Denise Nacu (Oak Park residents). The dojo opened 20 years ago and has since built a diverse and thriving community of Shotokan karate students of all ages in Chicago, Oak Park, and surrounding areas. Its Enso Elite competition team has sent athletes to represent the US national and international tournaments.